


A Stranger to Me

by them_bonez



Series: Maul/Artist!Reader [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Romance, Cute, Dominance, Dorks in Love, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff and Angst, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Heartwarming, Idiots in Love, M/M, Napping, Other, POV Second Person, Past Relationship(s), Planet Mandalore (Star Wars), Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:41:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28336359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/them_bonez/pseuds/them_bonez
Summary: After the hype of the art party wears off, reader is left wondering who Maul really is after all these years apart.
Relationships: Darth Maul/Reader
Series: Maul/Artist!Reader [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075109
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	A Stranger to Me

**Author's Note:**

> part 2 of the maul/artist!reader story. gender neutral <3

The next day you still were grappling with whether or not this whole thing was real. You woke to a lush breakfast in bed and Maul was being so sweet, but also seemingly avoiding having any real conversation about the last 12 years. You could only be pampered and doted on for so long. Sure it was nice, but it wasn’t sustainable. You felt you were owed an explanation at the very least. Plus, it just felt so different. You’d never truly known Maul back so many years ago. Your relationship was a complete secret; you’d never met anyone in his life and he never met any in yours. He barely spoke when you first met, and now he seemed to love nothing more than the sound of his own voice.

“Darling, why are you looking at me like that,” his voice now woke you from your daydreams.

“Hmm,” you replied and gave it a thought while pushing around the food on your tray with a utensil, “I’m just still in shock at all this.”

“Yes, well you look at me as though I am a stranger.” His brow furrowed as he locked eyes with you in that same intensity you’d known all those years ago.

“I mean…” you started off and sighed, how could you put this in a delicate manner?

“You are a stranger to me, Maul. I haven’t seen you in over ten years. A lot has changed, kriff, I should be like a stranger to you too.” you put your hand on your forehead already feeling exasperated. 

He got up from the side of the bed where he had been sitting next to you and walked towards a large bay window in the room and stared out of it with his hands clasped behind him. He was shirtless wearing only a pair of baggy black linen pants. You felt yourself getting lost in his tattoos tracing them along his muscular body with your eyes, wishing to taste him once again, to touch his deep red skin again. To hell with your lustful thoughts though, this was serious. He finally cut the silence after the pregnant pause.

“Yes, I suppose you are a bit of a stranger to me. It’s possible I got ahead of myself here,” he turned back to face you, but still kept his distance, “I’ll have the servants pack your bags and send you home at once. I’ll still pay you for the art show as agreed upon and the reputation you’ve gained by the gala alone should keep you employed for some time”

“What? I wasn’t saying I needed to go home right away. I mean can’t we talk about all this? You keep avoiding my questions about the past like it should all just mean nothing to me.” You set the tray of food aside to get up and approach him, your gait soft and slow with hesitation. Your nightclothes were delicate and mostly sheer, you couldn’t help but notice Maul’s gaze shift as you stepped closer to him. He grumbled and turned towards the window again.

“Maul?” you set a soft hand on his broad shoulder, “Can you please talk to me?” He shook your hand off him with a swift movement and you felt your blood boil over.

“You know maybe it is better off if I go home now,” you huffed out and grabbed one of your bags to start throwing things in them, mumbling to yourself about how he can’t talk to you.

“I didn’t remember you being such an entitled brat 12 years ago.” He spoke soft and slow as he walked towards you. “As I recall your goal was to have your own art show at a fancy museum. I made this a reality and yet here you stand. Ungrateful and selfish.” The last few words spat out of him like venom. The ridge of his brow now fully furrowed and his nose starting to crinkle up like you always remembered when he was angry. He was almost scarier when he started off so slow and smooth.

“All I’ve done is express how grateful I am to be here, Maul. How can you even say that?” You threw your hands up in the air in exasperation, “I just want to understand what’s going on. And don’t you want to know anything about me? If I have a family now? A spouse? You haven’t asked me ANYTHING about me. Tell me again how I am the selfish one?” you crossed your hands over your chest and jutted your hip out as you looked him suspiciously up and down.

“Can’t you see I am trying to take care of you?” he pleaded with you, the anger still present on his face, but now accompanied by desperation as well.

“I don’t need to be taken care of Maul. I have done fine on my own all this time. How can you expect me to come here not knowing anything?” You held your hand out now as you began to count out your frustrations, “You won’t tell me anything about this place, about you being here, and being the Mand’alor no less. Yet you expect me to just turn my life upside down? I exist outside of you, by the way. And I’d really like to know what kept you from me for so long. Why is it now you reach out? What’s different now than a year ago, 3 years ago, 10 years ago!?”

Maul looked up to the ceiling and sighed with his whole body before responding.

“I…” he hesitated with a look on his face like he was ill, “apologize. We do need to discuss what happened.’ He held out his hand to you now, you paused only for a moment before gently grabbing his large strong hand and walking towards him. He abruptly pulled you in for a hug, lightly knocking the wind from your lungs in the surprise grasp.

“Now, this is going to take me a while to get through everything. Do you need to contact your spouse that you will be home late this evening?” he gave you his best evil smile as he asked you, his eyes sparkling with delight. You pushed him away with a light toss and stifled a chuckle.

“You’re so rude. No, I don’t have a spouse, my point was you did not even bother to ask me!”

“Yes, well I should hope after last night’s escapades you would have mentioned something.” He gestured with his hand and sort of rolled his eyes as he spoke. Your face grew hot with embarrassment thinking back on the night before after the gala. You had been curious about his new, parts, and he was more than happy to oblige you. You hadn’t exactly played hard to get with him. You were just so happy to see him and be with him again. It was all such a dream, you’d thought back on the countless nights wishing for just one more night with him, and your wish it seemed was granted. There wasn’t much thought for the future or what this all meant in the grand scheme of your life until now.

“Get comfortable,” he motioned for you to sit, “It’s quite a long story. My path has been so dark. Darker than I ever dreamed it could be.”

Hours later and many tears cried from his heartbreaking story you were at quite a loss for words.

“I can’t believe you survived all of that,” you said earnestly in disbelief.

“Of course I survived,” he snapped back, but softened when he saw the sadness on your face, “I hope this all makes sense, why I was gone for so long and why I could not immediately go to you.”

You wiped your tear-stained cheeks again, “Yes of course it makes sense. I never could have imagined you went through all that. My story is so much more boring than that.”

“Boring is _good._ Be thankful.”

“I’m thankful you are ok. That you remembered me after all of that,” you paused to look into his soft yellow eyes, “that you brought me here.”

“I apologize for taking so long to be with you again. I realize it is a lot to ask and that you barely know who I am anymore,” he looked pensive as he spoke, thinking about each word before it left his mouth, “I hope you will consider staying here with me despite all of this.”

“I, I really want to…” you could barely put to words all the overwhelming feelings you were having. Your thoughts were interrupted by the large bedroom doors slamming open and Savage’s deep enthusiastic voice.

“Brother, I apologize for my intrusion, but there is something that needs your immediate attention in the throne room.”

Maul grabbed your face and kissed it quickly, “I’m sorry, my love, we will have to continue this later today. Make yourself at home and the servants will get you anything you desire.” He threw on his clothes and rushed out of the room with his brother.

You paced around the room at first for a bit. Eventually opening dresser drawers and the like, exploring the Zabrak’s room. You weren’t meaning to snoop per se, it was just that curiosity took over and the boredom was starting to cause you to feel a bit stir crazy. All of your art supplies were back home, and it was a little intimidating walking around here with all the heavily armored Mandalorians. The only person you knew was Maul, the Manda’lor. 

You sat on the bed for a moment thinking about everything he’d just told you. It was so much information and you felt like it hadn’t really hit you yet. You’d suspected he was an assassin from the first time you’d met him. He had run into you while you were painting the sunset and your paints had spilled onto his robes. When you went to clean them, there was blood too and it wasn’t his. He never really told you about it at the time and you hadn’t asked. You didn’t want to know. You just wanted your little secret love affair to last forever. It was almost better that you didn’t know everything about him. The mystery was alluring.

Now, you knew so much. Was it too much? He was more than just an assassin it seemed. His story was so dark and scary. If you weren’t intimidated by his life before, now knowing it all, or at least so much more of it, you were almost paralyzed by the thought of it all.

Your friends were never going to believe this. Ah kriff, your friends. What were you going to say? And to just leave them all? Well, you supposed, it wasn’t like you couldn’t go back to visit and vice versa. With nothing better to do and the overwhelming facts just presented to you, you decided to lay down for a nap. You could explore the palace later, hopefully with Maul.

Darkness pooled around you as you opened your sleep encrusted eyes to try and make sense of the room around you. You were curled up tight in the middle of a giant bed. Oh yes, Maul’s bed, all the memories flooding back to you in a rush of anxiety. You’d slept longer than you meant, nearly all day. You wondered why you ever bothered taking naps. You’d almost always end up waking up confused and grumpy, no exception here. Perhaps a quick shower would do you right.

The hot steam of the shower filled you with relaxation and comfort. His shower was old fashioned but immaculate. Something you’d expect to find in a palace. You were happy it wasn’t the sonic kind, the actual hot water hitting your face helped wake you up and ground you. It was odd Maul wouldn’t have the sonic shower, given his metal cybernetics, but that was maybe the least odd thing about Maul in the grand scheme of it all. As you were toweling yourself dry you heard the bedroom door open.

“Maul, is that you?”

“Yes my love.” His voice rang out and you heard him walk towards the refresher. “Is it alright if I come in?”

“Yep, I’m just drying off, c’mon in.”

“I am terribly sorry to be gone all day.” he stated as he stepped into the refresher. His eyes explored your mostly nude form, hidden only by a small towel, as your hair dripped down onto your shoulders and made clever pathways down your body.

“I ...uh,” he tried to continue on.

“It’s alright,” you let out a small giggle. “I understand you must be very busy most of the time.”

“Yes, yes well,” he clambered at his words somehow nervous around you and you wondered why. “I hope that you were able to have a nice day to yourself in the palace. That you got out a bit. Have you walked around the gardens? You’d love them I’m sure.”

“No, I, I didn’t really go out at all today. I guess I was really tired and I slept most of the day.” You toweled off your hair and began to get dressed.

“Oh yes, very well.” He looked at you with a longing in his eyes and you could no longer stand the tension.

“Maul, why are you looking at me like that? Is everything alright?”

Without hesitation he leaped forward to envelope you in a strong hug and you hugged him back with all the warmth and love in your soul pouring into his. You drank in his scent, whatever he’d been doing today he’d been sweating and it was intoxicating. You closed your eyes and felt a happiness you’d been seeking out for so long. Here it was. Here he was. You were home.

“You must stay with me here on Mandalore,” he now commanded in his deep dark voice right into your ear. the heat from his breath sending a shiver down your spine. Both of you still clinging on tight to the other, neither wanting to be the one to give up first. Sparks were flying through every blood vessel of yours it seemed, your entire body electrified like you could fly on the sheer energy of the moment.

“If you insist.” you finally breathed into his ear. Your lips lingered at his ear you couldn’t help but start to kiss his ear and lightly nip at him. He growled in delight, grabbed your waist and whipped his head back from yours to look into your eyes.

“I do insist. You are **mine**!” he said authoritative, but you _liked_ it. His hands gripped down on your waist and you were already melting into a puddle. No one else in your life had the effect he did on you. You were happy to follow his orders, and you did just that as you followed him back into the bedroom. Ok, maybe tomorrow you could both see more of the palace, for now the bedroom was looking pretty good.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! I really want to keep writing more for this, so if you like it please do leave me some feedback, kudos or a comment it really keeps me going. xoxoxo <3


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